San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner tentatively denied the claims in the CEQA lawsuit brought by Pacificans for a Scenic Coast about the proposed widening of Highway 1.

The Calera Creek Parkway project seeks to widen Highway 1 from Fairway Park to Rockaway by adding an additional traffic lane, a shoulder and a bike lane on each side. Still up for determination is an additional landscaped median or a narrower median strip in the Calera Creek Parkway plans. For discussion purposes only, Pacifica City Council favors the landscaped median strip.

In a tentative decision written March 10, Judge Weiner denied the Petition for Writ of Mandate alleging violations of CEQA in the environmental impact report (EIR) Caltrans prepared for the Calera Creek Parkway project. The injunction Pacificans for a Scenic Coast sought against the EIR was similarly tentatively denied and adjudicated in favor of Caltrans.

Peter Loeb, client representative for Pacificans for a Scenic Coast, said, “The judge has issued a tentative decision in the case. Under CRC Rule 3.1590(b) the tentative decision does not constitute a judgment and is not binding on the court. Pacificans for a Scenic Coast can’t comment until the final judgment is rendered.”

The CEQA lawsuit contends the Calera Creek Parkway project was not adequately described at the time of the EIR, that the project is out of scale with Pacifica’s scenic nature, the EIR contains contradictory information on impacts of threatened species, and that the EIR did not adequately address adverse impacts of the project, according to Pacificans for a Scenic Coast.

The topics explored during the two-day hearing included concerns about noise, water run-off, species protection, traffic and pedestrian safety, greenhouse gas emissions and what the new road will look like in the neighborhood.

The Caltrans proposal has been a hot topic of debate among Pacificans.

Those opposed to the project oppose it for several reasons. Some have said in comments added to the Caltrans EIR that the widening would look too massive and overpowering. Other complained it would effectively cut off business to Rockaway Beach. Some said it would not be effective at managing traffic flow and asked for Caltrans to consider alternatives. Caltrans, however, maintained in the EIR that all viable alternatives had been addressed and abandoned.

Others are in favor of the highway widening and welcome the improvement as proposed as a way to minimize problems with emergency vehicles travelling through during commute hours. Those in favor also look at the plan as a way to make traffic flow more smooth and rapid, especially during commute hours.

Five reputed Vallejo gang members, one of them already convicted of murder earlier this year, appeared in Solano County Superior Court on Friday to face more legal proceedings in the coming weeks in connection with the shooting deaths of three men in 2017 and 2018 in Vallejo.

A Mountain View entrepreneur who developed a device to help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, captured the $20,000 first prize in the 19th annual Big Bang! Business Competition at UC Davis.